


Tilda

by Maymot97



Series: Bard, son of the dwarf of Laketown [2]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Trans Bard, Trans Male Character, half dwarf Bard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-11-02 18:02:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10949832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maymot97/pseuds/Maymot97
Summary: Bard has a tough time of it during the end of his third pregnancy.





	Tilda

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is part of a document I started at work that was mostly narration that I thought I'd flesh out some.

Bard gets the news as soon as he gets back into town. It's one of the last few runs he's going to be able to make for a while, his third pregnancy being more tiresome than his other two. He still has a few months left in it and with both Sigrid and Bain he'd been able to continue working up until his last month, but this little one is wearing on him. 

Jules and Bain are waiting for him at the dock. Jules' face is carefully closed off, which immediately tips Bard off. His husband is usually nothing if not expressive. Bain has his face buried in Jules' neck. 

Bard steps off the barge as quickly as he can without setting himself off balance. "What is it?" he asks, letting out a startled squeak at the end when Jules pulls him in close. 

Jules is quiet for a minute before finally he says, "Your mother..."

Bard goes completely still, save for his breathing. His mother had been sick for some time, but Bard had been positive that she would at least live to see the birth of her third grandchild. It would seem he had been mistaken. 

"When?" he breathes out, his voice barely audible. 

"In her sleep."

Bard nods and straightens up. He wipes at his eyes and takes Bain from Jules, cradling the four year old close as the boy continued to cry silently. Of his children, Bain had been the closest to his grandmother. 

Looking back at Jules, Bard asks, "Where's Sigrid?"

"She's with Hilda. They had planned to do something today, hell if I know what in this town, and I thought it would be good to let them do that."

Bard nods absently, his face scrunching up as he tries not to start full on crying in the middle of town. 

Jules reaches out and places a hand on Bard's cheek. "Let's go home."

Bard nods. 

\--

Sigrid and Bain kept latched to Bard's side for the next month. Bard had handed the barge over to the person he'd trained in between his first two pregnancies. He was needed more with his family, and they'd somehow managed to save enough money that they could make due without Bard working for a few months. 

Having his children close didn't help, though. Bard found that it was hard for him to find the will to do almost anything. He would lay in bed for hours, sometimes with one or both of the children--and sometimes they could even get him to read to them if they tried hard enough--but Bard felt almost empty without his mother. 

She'd been his first supporter. Even though daughters were rare among dwarves, she never seemed to miss the daughter she had thought she had. She hadn't been afraid of letting the town know that she had a son--after Bard made it clear that it was alright. 

Without her, Bard felt lost. He knew that Jules would support him no matter what and that the children would never reject him, but he still missed his mother. 

It was three months to the day that his mother had died that the contractions had started. Bard had been sitting at the kitchen table, helping Sigrid with her reading, when the first one hit. 

The labor was short, and at the end a beautiful baby girl was placed in Bard's arms. At the sight of her, the emptiness he was feeling eased slightly. They named her Tilda, a mannish name that was similar in sound to Bard's mother's dwarvish one. 

After the birth, Bard laid in bed with his three children and for the first time in months, felt whole again.


End file.
